Moving stairway



masgasa Jan. 6, 1931. J. w. euzs uovme STAIRWAY' Filed May 20. 19;0

2 Shasta-She 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY BY "WI"! and dirt may manage to cate certain of these tiveness and safety,'ordinarily involves taking such movin stairways ou't of service. In fact, it is Patented "Jan 6, 1931 v lect 1n the form I .as friction and wear are 20' 'ter present upon the friction areas.

' JOHN WILLIAM ems, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

, ASSIGNOR TO OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW J'ERSEY MOVING srAInwAY Application filed May .20,

I This invention relates to moving Stairways, and is more articularlydirected to imfprowing and simp ifying the maintenance 0 such Stairways. a

Moving Stairways, similarly as floors and stationary stair'ways, are recipients of all forms of dust, dirt and trash. -In certain installations of moving stairways, for example, those in subway and elevated railroad stations, where the amounts of dust and dirt deposited thereon are large, some of this dust et into the area where the working parts of the stairway 0perate, and even to get upon the working parts themselves. It is of course undesirable that dust, grit or other foreign matter which may become deposited upon friction areas of working parts should remain upon such areas, increased if .the stairway is operated with such foreign n i aite dust, dirtand other foreign matter in such installations also may becomedeposited upon other areas of the working parts, and although its presence there may not directly impede the operation of the moving stairway, this matter may later drop OE and become deposited upon'the friction areas. In addition, it has been found that such dust, dirt and other foreigrf matter that may collect upon the non-friction areas of the work ing' arts may, in certain installations, 001- of an inflammable fuzz. To clean the workin parts ofsuchmoving stairways, it is usua 1y a manual taskthat not only'is time-consuming, but, for thorough work and for safety, ordinarily involves taking such moving stairways out of service. oving stairways" as at present construct ed include numerous parts and surfaces that benefit from regular lubrication. To lubriparts and surfaces, it is as with the cleaning, a manual task usually,

at is time-consuming and that, for effecragtically impossible tomanually clean and. ubricate the moving stairway ex- 6 fiept when it is stationary. In certain instaltions, howeyer, where the moving stair .zles is 1930. Serial No. 453,956.

ways are operated continuously for many hours every day in the week, as in'heavyit is desirab e not to take a movin stairway out of service at any time during the period when'normally it is in operation, even for cleaning or for lubrication.

One feature of this invention is the provision of means by which may be readily and efiectively cleaned whilethe stairway is in operation, and without danger to human life.

A second feature of this invention is the provision of means for quickly, thoroughly and positively lubricating vital parts of a moving stairway ,While the stairway is in operation, and effective, coincidently, to con serve lubricant and to revent injury to theworker applying the lubricant.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the specification taken in. connection with the accompanying drawings wherein one embodiment of the invention is illustrated. j

In the embodiment of the invention to be described, a moving stairway is provided with a plurality of sets of air nozzles, each set being. appropriately positioned for effecting the removal of dust, dirt and other and elevated railroad stations,

a moving stairway the stairway by means of the flow o alr from the air nozzle. Thus, one set of cleaning air 'nozzles is provided for cleaning the driving chains and a second set of cleaning airnoz zles is provided for cleaning the toe-guard and the underside of each step. There is also provided a plurality each adapted to emlt 'propriately mounted sprays upon certain of the moving parts of the stairway. Thus,a set of lubricatm nozzles 1s provided for'efiecting lubrication of the inside or step trailer wheels of each moving step and asecond set of lubricating n'oz provided for effecting lubrication of each driving chain, each step chain wheel,

a fine spray of oil, ap-

and'each supporting axlefor'the step chain wheels. In the drawings Figure. 1= is a schematicview; in elevation /0f lubricating nozzles,

so as to directflthe oil of the lower landing of a moving stairway ing diagrammatically the manner of cooperation 0 the cleansing and lubricating apparatus with the driving chains .and the moving steps;

Figure 3 is an end view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure lshowing the apparatus for effectin lubrication of the driving chains, the step c ain wheels, and the step chain wheel axles;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1- showing the apparatus for effecting lubrication of the step trailer wheels;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of Figure 1 showing the apparatus for cleaning the steps and the driving chains;

Figure 6 is a sectional view of an air nozzle which has been found satisfactory for the purposes of this invention; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view of an oil-spraying nozzle which has been found satisfactory for the purposes of this invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is schematically shown in Figure 1 the lower landing of a moving stairway. The driving chains 11 and themOvingsteps 12 which are driven thereby reverse their direction of travel at the lower landing by running around suitable sprockets provided upon a movable carriage 13 at the lower landing. For simplicity, the sprockets and the movable carriage are shown only schematically. The movable carriage is ada ted to roll upon the track 14 as a result of eing provided with the rollers 15. The movable carriage. is urged leftwardly, as shown in Figure .1, by means of a counterweight 16 for maintaining the driving chains and the series of steps taut. Each step is provided with four wheels.K

Twoof these wheels 17 are positioned between the links of the driving chain at either side of the step, so that as a result they are designated the chain wheels. The other'two wheels 18 are positioned -invertical planes different from those in which the chain wheels operate, and are designated the step trailer wheels. Each pair of chain wheels is connected to the front end of its corresponding step while each pair of step trailer wheels is connected to the step "riser 20 for its corresponding step. Thestep riser 20 is provided with a solid plate 21 across the width of the step. This plate 21 is commonly known as the toe-guard. Bars 22 con- .nect the axles for the step trailer wheels with p the axles for the chain wheels.

A pipe 23 is appropriately mounted trans-- versely across the moving stairway below the upper run of the steps but above the return run: thereof. The pipe 23 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 24 (see Figure 5), through which air may be impelled. The nozzles 24 are arranged along the pipe so that they cover the width of. the moving steps. One end of the pipe 23 is plugged, as at 25. The other end of the pipe is provided with a hose coupling attachment by means of which a flexible hose 26 may be attached thereto. The flexible hose 26 is connected through a valve 27 to a high pressure compressed air main 28. When the valve 27 is turned on and the flexible hos'e 26 is connected to the pipe 23, a plurality of streams of air are emitted from the nozzles of the pipe. These streams of air are directed upon the steps, and, as a result, remove therefrom all dust, dirt and other foreign matter. In order to facilitate cleaning the underside of the steps and the inside of the toe-guards 21, as well as the outside of the toe-guards, the pipe 23 may be swivelly mounted so that it may be rotated about its longitudinal axis. A second pipe 30 is mounted transversely across the moving stairway a short distance away from the pipe 23. This second pipe 30 is provided with two downwardly projecting extensions 31 upon each of which is mounted an air nozzle 32. These extensions 31 are arranged so that the nozzles 32 'are directly over the driving chains 11. The pipe 30 is rovided with a hose coupling attachment y means of which the flexible hose 26 may be attached thereto. As a result, when the Each of these nozzles,.constructed as shown in Figure 7, is provided with an air connection 34 by means of which compressed air of a relatively low pressure is fed to the nozzle, andan oil connection 35 by means of which zle. 'Themanner of lacement of the nozzles 33 is clearly shown in Figure 4 wherein it the oil, or other lubricant, is fed to the nozmay be seen that the nozzles are mounted so that the oil spray is projected angularly upon the step trailer Wheels 18. The air supply for the nozzles 33 is obtained by means of the piping 36 which connects with a high pressure compressed air main 37 through the medium of a reducing valve 38 which reduces the pressure to an appropriate value. A

valve 40 is provided in the piping adjacent the nozzles 33 in order to control theflow of air thereto. The oil supplyfor the nozzles 33 is obtained from a tank 41-by means of suitable feeds 42. The tank 41 is open to the atmosphere, so that as a result, the oil feed is dependent on the suction created in the feed lines 42 by the nozzles 33.

The lubrication of the driving chains, the

effected by means of nozzles 43. These nozzles are swivelly supported u on the movable carriage 13 so that the spray rom each nozzle may be directed alternately against the driving chains and the chain wheels contained therein, and against the chain wheel axles. The nozzles 43 are similar in'const-ruction to the nozzles illustrated in Figure 7. The air supply for each nozzle is obtained from the low pressure line 36 through a'suitable flexible hose 44; A valve 45 is inserted in the common feed of such hose in order to control the flow of air to the nozzles 43. The oil supply for each of these nozzles is obtained from a tank 46 through the means of a flexible hose 47 in a fashion similar to that-described for the nozzles 33.

As a result of the provision of theapparatus above described the moving stairway may be cleaned and lubricated uickly and readily while it is in operation, an without danger to the worker. The worker may first clean the steps and the toerguards by connecting the flexible hose 26 to the pipe 23, turning on the valve 27 and im arting a swivelling motion to the pipe 23 w ile the stairway is in motion. The worker may next clean the driving chains by connecting the flexible 'hose to the ipe 30 and then turn- I ing on the valve 27,.

e may effect the lubrication of the step trailer wheels by turning on the valve 40. After this is done, the worker may then turn on the valve 45 to effect the lubrication of the driving chain, and then, after a complete trip of'the moving stairway, the worker may turn the noz zles 43 so thatthey efl'ect the lubrication of the chain wheel axles.

It has been found that the best results have been obtained when the lubricant employed is a light machine oil and the airpressure is low, of the order of six to twelve pounds per square inch, so as to cause the emission of the oil from the nozzles in a fine, light spray. It has also been found that in addition to the fact that the maintenance of moving stairways is rendered moresimple and more effective as a result of the provisions the scope thereof, it is intended that a l mat-- beintrpreted as .il

of this invention, that the accident and fire hazards have been reduchd, and that the consumption of-lubricant by the moving stair- ,wa is considerably smaller.

is many changes could be made in the above construction and -many a parentlywidely difierent embodiments of t s invention could be made without departm from ter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings sh'a-ll ustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Whatis claimedis: Y

1. In combination, a moving stairway having aplurality of steps andatpe-guard for and directed atthe corresponding cha n as the steps and drivin the r direction of travel win etransferring each step, a pipe mounted transversely across the moving stairway between the upper and lower runs of said stairwa said p1pe being mounted to permit partia rotation thereof about its longitudinal axis, a pluralit of air nozzles mounted upon said pipe and irected 'downwardlgupon the lower run of said steps a source of pressure compressed air, an

means connecting said pipe to said source so that said pipe may be oscillated, while said stairway is in operation and 'air is being forced out through said nozzles, to effect the cleaning of the undersides of all of said ste s and being provided with a plurality of air nozzles mounted upon said 1pc and directed downwardly upon the 10 er run of said "steps, the other of said pipes being stationarily mounted and being provided with 'a plurality of air nozzles, one for each driving chain, mounted u on said second pipe an directed downwar ly upon the corresponding driving chain while saidchain is operating on the lower run of said stairway, a

source of high pressure compressed air, a flexible hose connected at one end to said source of compressed air, and coupling means attached to the other end of said hose for detachably connecting said hose to either of said pipes to the exclusion of the other so thatsaid steps may be thoroughly cleaned while said stairvgay is in operation, and thereafter all dust, dirt, and other foreign matter present upon the driving chains, including. that deposited while the steps were being cleaned, may be thoroughly removed while said stairway is still in operation.

'3. In combination, a moving stairway havmg a plurality of steps and driving chains therefor, and means for cleaning and lubricatmg'sald driving chains while said stairway is in operation,,said means comprising,

a pipe mounted transversely across t e mov ing stairwa between the upper and lower runs of sai stairway, said pipe being stationaril mounted and being provided with aplura 'ty of air nozzles,-one for each driving chain, mounted thereupon and directed downwardly upon the corresponding driving chem-while said chain is operating on the lower run of said stairway; a plurality of lilo additional nozzles," one for each driving chem, mounted at oneend of said stairway driving chain reverse from the lower run to the upper run of said stairway, or vice versa, each of said additional nozzles having an inlet for air and an inlet for oil, an open tank containing 5 light machine oil, piping from said tank to the 011 inlet for each of said additional nozzles, a source of high pressure compressed air, a source of low pressure compressed air, connection from said source of high pressure compressed air to said transverse pipe, and connections from said source of low pressure compressed air to the air inlet for each of said additional nozzles.

4. In combination, a moving stairway having a plurality of steps, eachof said steps having a step trailer wheel mounted at either side thereof;- two nozzles mounted between the upper and lower runs of said stairway, one of said nozz1es being mounted so as to be directed downwardly andangularly upon the path of the step trailer wheels on one side of the steps as the steps travel along the lower run of the stairway While it is in operation, and the other of said nozzles being mounted so as to be directed downwardly and angularly upon the path of the step trailer wheels on the other side of the steps as the steps travel along the lower run of the stairway while it is in operation, each of 0 said nozzles having an inlet for air and an inlet for oil; an open tank containing light machine oil; piping from said tank to the oil inlet for each of said nozzles; a source ofilow 3 pressure compressed air; and connections .35 from said source of compressed air tothe air inlet for each of said nozzles so that said nozzles are operable to spray a film of light oil upon all the'step trailer wheels while the stairway'is in operation. 40 In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN WILLIAM GIES. 

